Any Color You Like
by EarnestInBerlin
Summary: It was suppose to be a drabble
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm feeling a bit pathetic now-a-days, so I wrote this in a way to humor myself. It started out as a drabble for my own amusement, since I see the air of a plot somewhere in this mystic sea of boredom, I might continue this but until I write chapter two…

Extra note: I don't know with you, but I really love the title a lot! Oh yeah, if things doesn't make sense remember, it's not suppose to. Also, I'm not really good at describing body movements like hurting people or getting hurt.

Enjoy

**Any Color You Like**

**Chapter One: Brain Damage**

The lunatic is in our head

-Pink Floyd, 'Brain Damage'

When Kudo Kazahaya was a child, from the moment he could remember most of his memories always had something to do with getting hurt. He remembers hiding in a closet underneath the stairs, where most of the winter coats would hang for most of the year until the snow would fall in the wintry month of December. Outside the wooden door footsteps cause by the heels of his mother would stomp on the spotless floor. He never let out a breath as she heatedly strides back and forth in search of the boy hidden inside the closet she was passing by. Kazahaya was young, around four or five, wearing the tainted blue sailor's uniform. The filth managed to catch the fabric of his clothe when he accidentally stumbled on his mother's prized garden. He hitched his breath when he heard his mother's shoes pass by his very hiding place again, but this time harder. Upon hearing the rapidness of his mother's pace, he knew she was really mad. By now, Kazahaya knew she checked the rooms upstairs, the cupboards in the kitchen, the closet with his clothes, the bathroom and his always spic and span nursery, which he also shared with his twin sister.

Their mother hated filth, she hated anything beyond the norm and she seemed to hate him and his siblings. That was how he understood her anger, it seems that every little thing he did was always a mistake. Even if the cause wasn't directly to him or at his sister or at their older brother, it seemed that they were to blame for everything that goes wrong in the house. Kazahaya always thought that maybe it was because of the death of their daddy that made their mother really sad. But he can never understand why she would always be so violent. Other people were nicer to him just like the kind lady at the flower shop that would always give him a flower or two when he passes by her flower shop. He could never understand why his mother just couldn't be the same like her too. Kazahaya once thought maybe it was because that they were bad children that is why their mother hated them. They were always reminded of their evil deeds again and again- letting the kitchen plate fall, dirtying their clothes while going out, getting grass stains on the floor from outside- deeds that seemed to be the end of the world if ever they were committed.

People from outside Kazahaya house always say they were good children. Even if the boy twin was a bit clumsy, but nonetheless they were the best-behaved children. They never talk back to their mother and never did a word escape their mouths unless spoken to. Their older brother who was already in school was way ahead of his class. His record was impeccably clean and he could've moved higher if his mother allowed him to skip another grade. Kazahaya's older sibling was self-sufficient; he cleaned his own room, never made a mess with his soup and washed his own clothes. But it seemed that what ever he did, no matter how many medals hidden underneath his bed and the certificates thrown away in the trash, he was still nowhere near perfect. Kazahaya and Kei were jealous of him, at least he get to escape the mother's absurd tyranny for a few hours a day.

From the moment she was told that her husband was anything but normal did she learn to detest. It was a month after their marriage that he told her that he was had powers that she never he had in the first place. The woman almost sank into the pits of depression when she heard these words from her betrothed, and she was then pregnant with their eldest son then. Upon learning this, she learned to scorn the man that she has pledged her life with. She convinced herself never ever to bear him anymore children but six years after the birth of their first child, in that fateful night amidst the martinis and sweet alcohol the twins were planted in her body. Just like with the first-born, she endured the nine months of pain that she never wanted to experience ever in her life. Why she hated the difference that was inherited by the children from their father was never really clearly defined. Maybe it was because if ever she thinks of them, all she could see are people with abnormalities worse than the ones her family received, masquerading their oddity in freak shows. The man was kind, he always tried to please her but there was nothing he could to make her happy. It was as if all the memories and all the things they gone through as a couple seemed to have disappeared just because he was different from the rest. He'd sometimes play witness to the beatings of his children, but there was nothing he could do. The woman excused it as her own way teaching their children discipline.

He once contemplated getting divorced and taking the kids out of the country, far away from this evil woman. But then, everyone knew her and her absurd 'disciplining', she once spanked Kei in public for merely touching the hem of her clothes. With that, all the woman had was him and the three children. Even a creature as vile as her received forgiveness from the heart of the man. It was one of his fervent wish that somehow a trickle of mercy could flow in hers, but no matter how many years of waiting, he could still hear his poor children. He once convinced himself that maybe she was right in this technique of discipline of hers, unlike the unruly children of his colleagues, his were the most well-mannered.

It was the greatest blunder of the man, mistaking terror for obedience.

In the bitter darkness Kazahaya felt hot and he chocked in the near absence of air. He quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hands as he soon realized his mistake, the tapping of shoes outside his door stopped right in front of his door. Even before the door was opened and his small arm was yanked away forcibly by his mother did the tears already fell from his eyes. His small frame crashed with the Persian rug that did nothing to cushion his fall, big fat streaks of childish tears were raining down from his emerald eyes as the inevitable slaps of his mother's hands started meeting with his small cheeks. His mother didn't only limit herself to slaps but also to punches and kicks striking indiscriminately everywhere and anywhere she sees fit.

"Okasan!" he screamed as the beating got worse, "Gomen nasai!"

His pleads fell to deaf ears, all his mother could do was scream at him in anger for an accident that was beyond his control. And in between the railings in their second floor were the wide similarly green eyes of his twin sister. She watched once again in fixated horror as their mother reduced her twin brother into a bloody pulp, punishing the boy for a crime that she very well knew her brother never committed.

Kei was powerless in times like these, just like her brother, an intervention of some sort would just result into a beating for both of them. And because of that, all she could do was sit there, and watch. She would wait until everything was over then would she go down to help her brother in need. When she always does, the door at the back of their house would shut itself as its slam would indicate their mother's departure. Kazahaya was begging but the more he talked, the louder he did, the worse the beating he would get.

Kei's hands gripped the prison-like bars as she stared at the kick that aimed itself on her brother's chest. For some reason, she felt Kazahaya's beating was longer than usual. From behind her a door opened and out came poked the head of their older brother. As soon as his baby sister heard the click of a doorknob she took her eyes away from the scene and stared at the third party and when she saw the face of their oniichan, she plead in a small whisper for help. He heard the request even with the escalating scream, the angered words downstairs and the sound of ringing slaps. Even when he was inside his room, while playing throw-the-ball-at-the-wall, he heard the yelps of pain and he knew that his crackpot of a mother was taking the daylights out of one of his siblings. But just like Kei, involvement would prove to be crucial not only for him but for the little youngster that was being punished, so he'd wait in his room. Listening and sometimes counting the strikes his poor siblings had to take. It was really rare that he would interfere while the fight was on. But today, there really was something wrong downstairs; the abuse was longer than usual.

As soon as he saw the tear-stained cheeks of the little girl and the unending sounds of torment from below did he react.

The idea of being hurt was nothing to him as he rushed past his sister and hastily ran down the stairs that almost resulted in his downfall.

"Ungrateful, you filthy little monster!" screamed their mother hoarse and out of the breath.

"Okasan, yamete!" Kazahaya looked up in shock to hear the voice of his older sibling. Just like he and Kei, his brother also inherited the golden hair that solely belongs to their almost beautiful almost mother. Almost beautiful because of the creases caused by the expression of anger and hatred that shaped their mother's once pretty face. His brother was six years his senior but unlike the bleeding boy, his brother received the exact cold and calculating violet gaze of his mother. Whilst the twins had the innocent and wide-eyes version of their father's green orbs; to him, it seemed that their brother was the almost the exact copy of their mother.

The older boy pushed his mother aside when she stared at him with a bit of shock coursing through her features when she saw her other son.

"Enough, can't you see you're killing him!" he held his brother in his arms, the once angel-like features of his boy sibling was marred with bruises and a small and thin line of blood ran down his head. He could almost hear the cracking the of his brother's ribs, for fear that he might worsened the injury, he loosened his hold on the boy.

"You!" she pointed an accusing finger at her first-born child, "You know than to nose around matters that doesn't concern you!"

"What else am I supposed to do? You were beating Kazahaya to death" he spat back, "And for what? For stumbling?"

"Don't you dare talk back to me in that tone of yours; don't you dare talk to me as if you know how to control this household!" she gave him a slap that went to leave a mark on his face; "You and your siblings are nothing but freaks! Damn the day when you three came into my life!"

Young angry violet stared at the woman that was supposed to be his mother, but then behind his powerful mask he couldn't help but hear the first cracks of the foundations as they started to tumble. He couldn't help but be held in a moment of disbelief at what his mother just declared. Even before the death of their father, they all have been called different things, each worse than its predecessor. But it was the first time that their mother acknowledges their difference in spite. Their mother called them bad, sometimes idiots or cretins but never came close to anything that reminded them of their abnormality. They knew what they are, of course, but they always pretended that they were normal beings. Only that their lives were filled with pain and remorse, the only thing that separates them from most of the other kids in the block.

"Not talking back are you now, are you?" she sneered at them in a crazed daze; "You're nothing but freaks, the three of you. Demons, all from the deepest pits of hell with your pathetic powers…"

Kazahaya gripped his brother's shirt; he could see the fire that started to ignite in his brother's eyes. Kei, from the second floor, could sense the impending danger from below. The violet orbs were showing the first signs of frailty but as the verbal abuse rose, hurt was replaced with another emotion all together. The twins, even at their tender age, knew what their oniichan was capable of if suddenly he was given a reason to loose his logic to feelings.

"Why… you…" he started, glaring daggers at the scorned woman, all his life he didn't dare let himself be broken by his mother. He would never let himself lose to the bitch that claims that claims to be the very woman that bore him. He promised himself that he would stand strong, if not for himself but for the two other children trapped in this house they were force to call a home. And that no matter how many names she'll call him, he'll always ignore them, flick them away like pest.

The crystal vase that was sitting on top of the table nearest to their mother broken into a thousands pieces and the flower that Kazahaya brought in today from the flower shop lay with the crystalline pieces of glass that was littered all around. Upon seeing the damage, their mother backed in fear as she saw the gravity in the boy's eyes. Her own eyes bounced from the broken crystal glass on the floor to the murder-like glare her first born child was giving her.

Kazahaya's brother was going to break more than another vase when the hand on the front of his shirt tightened its grip- as strong as the little strength left in him could offer. He stared at the green eyes and listened to the little voice coming from the younger one, echoing the lesson that he once instilled in the two when they themselves were tempted to use their powers, "Ni… chan… it's… it's not… worth… it…"

Five words were all it took to get his oniichan back.

Kei was halfway down the stairs when the sound of breaking glass numbed her feet. From that moment until this, she was stuck in the middle of the stair, unsure whether to join the battle or to play it safe and stay upstairs in between the bars with witnessing green eyes.

The maddening glint in their older sibling's eyes gradually disappeared and the mind that was once slipping away came and started working.

"Kaza-chan…" the first word he spoke.

With that, Kei took this as her cue to continue her flight heading downstairs and join her brothers. The older boy stared at their mother, waiting for her reaction with regained cool. However, she stood there as if in a daze what took her eyes off them were the footsteps of Kei, with that she snapped back to reality. Without a moment of hesitation, she turned around and left the three on their own, not even bother cleaning up the glass or barking an order to the eldest to clean up the mess. Like always, they all heard the back slam shut in their wake.

Kei hugged her twin as she finally reached him.

"Kaza-kun, you're all right!"

Young violet eyes surveyed them with the last of what warmth and love it was left. The older blond held his younger brother from behind and made a promised in his head, sealing it by kissing the yellow locks of his sibling.

**969BOREDTODEATHWASISOIWROTETHISTOBESATISFIED969**

Rikou dropped the box of whatever-that-was-inside and let it fall to the ground; making reels of gauze lazily crawl away from Rikou and hide beneath the shelves of the store. It wasn't the ringing of the bell at the opened door of the store that surprised but the person who went in the store was to be blamed.

He was blonde. He somewhat shared the same height as Rikou but the latter wasn't sure about that. The man who entered the store was dressed in a black shirt that had nothing to boldly declare then jeans that were low and around his skinny legs. Two earphones were plugged on his ears and a fingerless glove covered his right hand. He was a striking human being, catching the attention of anyone near or far just by being where he is. His face was beset looked as if he'd rather be somewhere else.

The word handsome seemed to be an insult, this man was beautiful. His skin was flawless and Rikou could not see an offending storage of fat anywhere.

The black haired store employee was musing with the idea that the most recent visitor was a model. He almost forgot that staring was a very rude thing to do in the presence of other people but then his head decided he doesn't care and that little thing in his head that always keeps him up check was kicked by his other senses for being such a bother.

The man sauntered in with steps that didn't indicate anything, light and easy steps. As he explored the store and got near to where Rikou was, and then did the boy realized he should drop his gaze and get those rolls gauze to where they all belong. Rikou only had moment's close up glance of the man's face. His eyes were small but Rikou could see the dark amethyst that shone with calculation and shrewdness that the eyes denied. He knew Rikou was looking at him, did he acknowledge it or not was a mystery to Rikou.

The blond passed by Rikou without even sparing him a glance, as if he hadn't seen the boy in the first place and headed to the counter.

He leaned on it and took the whole shop in sharp and bored looking glances; studying the place, wondering if the store was worthy of his being there.

For five minutes, Rikou hid behind one of the shelves, trying to steal a look at this gorgeous guest, not taking note that he was putting the gauze in the wrong places.

And in five minutes, the angry voice of Kazahaya made Rikou jump in surprise as he appeared out of nowhere with the store's apron tied to his body and sat at the counter near to where the blond was. Along with Kazahaya was his complaints, "Rikou, you annoying prat, how dare you-"

When he swiveled the chair did he stop short.

Kazahaya caught the blonde's evening colored eyes and they stared at each other. His mouth was closed in surprised silence as the continuation of his sentence was swallowed down, forgotten as if it never existed in the first place.

Rikou watched them from his distance.

Kazahaya's mouth was shaped like a wide circle along with his eyes, an obvious face of shock. The man's just raised a brow at the boy's astonishment his lips a playing with an ironic smile (a grin).

Rikou, for some reasons, felt a bit of a tension in the air as he decided to drop his act and emerge from the shelves. That was when he saw what the problem was.

The blond, the older one, took off his earphones and in a bored drawl, "You're not supposed to stare like you've seen a ghost, Kazahaya"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'll try to give this the pen's ink of life because I think it's cute. It's short, that's the only warning I can give and a very useless chapter as well.

**Any Color You Like**

**Chapter Two: Fool on the Hill**

…sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

Sees the world going down

- 'Fool on the Hill', Beatles

There was a square room.

It was a simple office room with nothing much to boast except for a round fishbowl with two living gold fishes and a small bonsai plant on the table.

There were two blonds.

One with his eyes of green leaves and envy shade that tends to rise when he sees his partner play hooky with the girls that come in and out of the store they work.

One with his eyes of the dying embers of the day that slowly fades into the darkness that is the night; these evening colored eyes have seen many things. And some of the things that passed before his eyes were moments that were better off locked up inside his head to gather dust or if possible to disappear or die.

There was a table that separated them and all else, it was the air that hovered in the space There was a pair of evening themed eyes looking amused at the picture of a cheap office that he found himself part of. There was a pair of emerald orbs that looked at the body that sprawled in a lazy position in front of him, on a couch that he would usually see another man fall asleep. His fingers were shaking on his hand, whilst the other hand that didn't belong to him took the picture frame on the small table beside the couch. There four people smiling, three people beaming technically while the last member pouted angrily at some silly joke that was shared between the three with him as the topic.

The older smiled at the picture, he never remembered having moment like these before; both inside and outside the deadly fortress that he calls home. His fingers drifted through the faces that shown with color of the day and the lips that smiled all happy and gay.

The green eyed youth looked at him; something about his gaze told him that he was staring at the pale white skin of a ghost. Though his doubts have forced him to touch the hand before in the counter, trying with his weak hand to crush the strong yet smooth fingers beneath his clutch. He realized then that his fingers did not meet and he still held the hand that his fingers should've permeated through.

The other smiled at him and it was that smile that told him he saw that twist of lips before. Only one person can give him that warmth and love that not even his own mother could offer.

"Are these the people who have been taking care of you for the past year?" said the man, his smile a soft caress to his features.

"Yeah" was the reply from the younger blond boy.

"I heard a lot about these two" he placed the photo to where it belonged, and the boy could tell where his gaze fell on "But so far most of the things I've heard are too general; 'mysterious', 'secretive'. Not very informative, don't you think?"

He asked him his opinion, the boy stared at him, and the same voice escaped his lips. He asked for his opinion, nobody would usually care what he has to say. Only one person would ask that question, no one else.

Did the dead rise from the grave?

"Yeah…"

Or did the dead really take the kiss of parting?

The younger blond looked at the floor from time to time, catching his shoelaces and studying the impatient tapping of his foot.

"I still don't think you're convinced that I'm your brother"

Did he drink poison to pretend he was dead, and then wake up in the middle of the night to escape his grave?

There was a quiet moment and the little one looked at the other side. There was something about the side that attracted people to looking at left or right when such a situation presents itself. The man claiming to be his sibling just leaned forward and tried to capture green eyes with his own violet orbs.

"Do you want to hold my hand?"

**IMFEELINGWEIRDSOILISTENEDTONAKUSHITAKOTOBANARUOTONDO**

Outside the square room, there was a store and it was a drugstore.

It was like every other drugstore in Japan, like every other drugstore in the world perhaps. There were medicines on shelves to be sold to anyone who would come waltzing in the store. A few cosmetics over at one corner all reserved for various women and girls (and men) who pass by the doors of the green drugstore.

And there were three people, two with their huge muscular figures and the last one a small man, almost weak in his form. The other two were raven haired whilst the smallest of them was a natural blond.

Rikou, Saiga and Kakei were outside. The two knew what was going on, and the young raven haired boy didn't like the idea of being left out. Kakei was acting out the role of the cashier whilst the real holder was locked up in his office doing god knows what with the stranger.

The blond was talking to Saiga about affairs that concern that intricate world of Japanese politics. The hulk man was telling Kakei about how he admired some prime minister that reined during their era and such things that Rikou reads everyday in the newspaper but never gave a hoot about.

"Can anyone please tell me what's going on?" he asked with annoyance very evident in his voice.

Kakei smiled his usual smile with Saiga just shrugging his shoulders, "Frankly, I don't know what's going on so asking me is quite useless, boy"

"Well, why don't you ask that after Kazahaya and his brother talk?"

"Wait…" Rikou raised his hands up, "… brother?"

**ANDILIKEDTHOSESONGSVERYMUCHTHEYMAKEMESADTHOUGH**

_He was running on his toes, there was water beneath his feet and yet he can walk like the Savior. Each of his many steps caused small round ripples on the surface of the liquid. _

Kazahaya felt cold, it was like the happiness inside his whole body has been sucked out of him. There was that blank feeling in his soul, like life has lost all of its meaning. He could almost see the images of what happened over wasted years again replay in his eyes like old war films, silent yet very haunting to the mind.

He lost his breath, he ran all around the vicinity of the other's brain before he was pulled back to Kakei's office.

_Broken glass pieces were lapping in the air some tainted some left to stay clean. However, the young blond boy could see very little of those. Each tread that he leaves behind was a mark of red that he has marked in the other's head. He tried to find the dead boy who left him and sister behind six years ago but all he could see were the fragments of memories that he very well knew. But there were these other pieces that didn't fit the jigsaw puzzle of his recollection._

_He stopped and let his head take a spin to look at all the quantity of splintered glass floating in the dreamlike atmosphere. Kazahaya's hand was hungry for touch, he did realized that when he stopped his running there pieces that went up to him. _

_All he had to do was touch one of them and remember the man as the boy who used to be with him. _

There were so many things in his head; Kazahaya wondered how on earth he kept his sanity alive. The other's mind was oblivion of wretchedness, an overwhelming landscape of melancholy. He found himself waking up to see concerned evening eyes looking down at him, an arm to keep him up straight. He was on the floor already.

He must've fainted again, figures.

"Kazahaya, are you okay?" his brother asked, his voice a familiar tone to Kazahaya.

_His fingers reached for the prickly edge of the one on the middle._

His heavy eyes were trying to adjust again with the light of day. Bluntly, he wasn't sure if the tears went out of his eyes because the piercing radiance that is streaming from the glass window or was it the picture of death that he saw before his eyes.

_There was a blanket of blood covering his brother head to toe; his arms were lying limp against his sides. The door was wide open and the chilly winter's air was passing through the gap the door left. Snow from the outside came in to the house. _

_He was leaning on the wall; his face was staring at the being that dared to walk through their front door. He was sitting on the floor, his face contorted forever into that look of shock and never ending question of why. _

He was trembling with fear and recollection; so that's why he ran away.

_Kazahaya was staring at him, he was old to enough to realize that his brother was not breathing. _

"What did you see, Kazahaya?" he remember being held this close by his oniichan, they were so close. His face was buried on the other's shoulder, as he remembers that night along with the other too; it was the night that told to him to get out of his home, danger was coming this way. A hand was on the back of his head while the other went to stroke his shaking form.

So that's why he ran away.

_There were the footsteps on the floor that told him he tried to run away but he wasn't fast enough. This was the punishment for his lack of speed. _

_He tried to run away. _

_Kazahaya fell to his knees, his book bag falling with an unheard thud as he played a staring game with the unseeing eyes. The violet orbs were round in death; it was like the moon smiling at him with dark intent. _

"…_Ni-chan…" his voice was frosty like the breeze that was gained entrance to his-literally- broken home. _

_His crawl was slow; his hand reaching out to touch the deadly pale of the one he loved the most. Ice pricked his palm; it made his spine tingle in fear as his worst came to reality. It wasn't supposed to end this way. _

"You… on the floor…"

_Big fat tear drops ran one by one from each of his eyes as he cupped the carcass' features, taking in for the final time the blue lips, the tainted skin and the eyes that never stopped looking at him. _

"_Oniichan…" _

_He almost forgot about Kei._

"Then there was blood… the vase fell…"

_Kazahaya was running at the speed of light to the room at the second floor, he ignored the crunch of glass his shoes stepped on. _

_It was a yellow vase with flowers. _

_The door was unlocked, as he twisted the knob. And the scene before him repeated only this time Kei was sitting on her chair as if she fell asleep answering Algebra. With the blood gushing out from the wound on her forehead telling Kazahaya that she's not sleeping at all._

_He watched in morbid interest as her pretty face slept forever; he was too scared to come near. _

"You're supposed to be dead…" was the last thing Kazahaya said.


End file.
